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Educator's E-newsletter
| December 16, 2011
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 A Look at the Season's Main Events Virginia Barlow Third Week of December Red-breasted nuthatches are territorial in winter; a pair will defend about 10 acres.
Look for evergreen wood fern and Christmas fern in the woods and for rock polypody on rocky outcrops before the snow gets deep. These ferns stay green all winter.
Noisy flocks of pine grosbeaks (chee-chip or chee-chip-chip) will leave the hulls of white ash seeds on the ground after feeding on the seeds.
Fourth Week of December
Dec. 23: peak of Ursid meteor shower, which originates in the Big Dipper.
Hibernating woodchucks warm up every few days to urinate, raising their temperatures from about 40°F to over 94°F.
Snow usually does not deter moose: their long, skinny legs can plow through 30 inches of it without a problem.
These listing are based on observations and reports in our home territory at about 1,000 feet in elevation in central Vermont and are approximate. Events may occur earlier or later, depending on your latitude, elevation - and the weather. |
The Butcher Bird
Thomas K. Slayton
While most common songbirds migrate south for the winter, our part of the world is "south" for several birds of the far north. Snow buntings, common redpolls, and rough-legged hawks, among others, regularly move into our region in the winter months. These northern visitors make cold-weather birding interesting, but one bird - the northern shrike - stands out because of its unusual hunting habits...
Full Article TextDownload the Article
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 Biomimicry
Sandra Murphy
Big Foot, by Bill Amos
In Amos' article, students learn about the snowshoe hare's many remarkable adaptations for survival. Human-made snowshoes imitate one of the hare's best known adaptations, distributing a person's weight over the snow in the same way the snowshoe hare's wide, furry hind feet do. The article offers an excellent lead-in to the study of biomimicry, a scientific discipline that focuses on developing sustainable technologies inspired by nature. As renowned scientist Fritjof Capra notes, "We can design sustainable societies by modeling them after nature's ecosystems," which have field-tested sustainable adaptations for hundreds of thousands of years. The Biomimicry Institute website (see information below) provides many case studies of biomimicry in action, including energy-efficient buildings in Africa inspired by passive cooling in termite mounds and non-toxic fabric finishes inspired by water-repellant lotus plants. Introduce your students to biomimicry through the Biomimicry Institute's curriculum materials for middle and high school students. These include downloadable "creature dossiers" describing particular plant and animal adaptations and the technological innovations they've inspired. You'll find a pre-study questionnaire for your students, a PowerPoint presentation that introduces the concepts of biomimicry, and related classroom activities, including one in which students design a biomimetic shelter. Books: Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Janine Benyus. 1997.
Demonstrates how nature's solutions to survival needs have been the creative jumping-off points for technological innovations for sustainable living.
The Hidden Powers of Animals. Carl P.N. Shuker. 2001. A fascinating look at the astonishing behavior and super-human abilities of animals, from kings of the jungle to household pets. This book reveals incredible truths about animals and their remarkable sensitivities, skills, and strengths.
The Way Nature Works. Ed. Jill Bailey. 1992. Drawing on a series of questions that children might ask, a team of scientists proposes answers in this manual for adult readers. They address large issues such as atmospheric phenomena, ecosystem relationships, and animal communication with brief essays, each well illustrated with charts, diagrams, and photographs. Websites: Visit the Biomimicry Institute. This not-for-profit organization promotes the study and imitation of nature's remarkably efficient designs by bringing together experts who can use those models to create sustainable technologies. Download the Teacher's Guide (This activity is on page 2) Download the Article: Big Foot Click here for the complete Teacher's Guide archive!
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WHAT IN THE WOODS IS THAT?
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 Our Biweekly Guessing Game!
The scat here was found in early November. Whose scat is that? (Hint: take a close look at the white flecks.)
Every other week we run a photo of something unusual found in the woods. Guess what it is and you'll be eligible to win a copy of The Outside Story, a paperback collection of our Outside Story newspaper columns. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner's name, will appear in next week's column.
This week's contest deadline is 8:00 AM, Wednesday, December 28, 2011. |
 Congratulations to our winner Kyle Garcia of White River Junction, VT! Kyle receives a copy of our book, The Outside Story.
Here's a little woodland mystery for you.
Reader Larry Mulligan has been investigating stone chambers in Putnam County, New York. This picture shows one of about 12 chambers on this particular property. Apparently they predate historical records in that area, so nobody knows for sure what they were used for. What's your guess? Since we don't know the answer either, we'll select a winner based on the most creative answer.
NW Answer: Some said this stone structure had ceremonial significance to the Abenaki or for Druids, perhaps used to observe eclipses or used as a sweat lodge. Some went more practical, and said it was a root cellar for storing food before refrigeration was available, or maybe a lime kiln. And still others said various creatures of questionable existence once inhabited the stone home, from a "bad breath'd troll" to the eastern mini-sasquatch. Many found it to be a good hiding place for any number of things, from stashing moonshine to hiding oneself to "scare the pants off" approaching friends. Kyle Garcia guessed that perhaps the mound of stones was once a temporary shelter for corpses in winter, when the ground was too hard to dig.
We thought his answer was creative and practical, so he's this week's winner.
Visit our What In The Woods Is That? contest archive.
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New Resource Available
Check out Bird Conservation Research's latest video featuring bog habitats. Learn about the two principal bog environments of southern New England. First examine the development of old black spruce bogs on the Berkshire plateau of western Connecticut and then delve into a young Atlantic white cedar bog in northeastern Connecticut. Conclude with an examination of an old cedar bog along the southern Connecticut-Rhode Island border, containing plant species that colonized in the area following the glaciers. This free video was designed to supplement AP Environmental Science curriculum.
While you're exploring Bird Conservation Research's website, be sure to browse their many useful educator's resources!For more about bogs and bog life, check out the following articles:
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If you are an educator who finds Northern Woodlands magazine useful in your classroom, you are eligible for a complimentary subscription. Simply e-mail your completed registration form to the NWGTS coordinator Emily Rowe.
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The mission of the Center for Northern Woodlands Education is to advance a culture of forest stewardship in the Northeast and to increase understanding of and appreciation for the natural wonders, economic productivity and ecological integrity of the region's forests. Our programs give people the information they need to help build a sustainable future for our region. Through Northern Woodlands magazine, the Northern Woodlands Goes to School program, and special publications, we make a difference in how people care for their land.
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